Artist of the Month: DJ Seinfeld

With his multi-layered third album If This Is It, DJ Seinfeld has evolved into the artist he always wanted to be. The world-touring DJ and producer - whose father performed as an opera singer and whose mother worked as a piano teacher and flutist - has crafted the types of songs that he long wanted to be able to write. “In the past when I had ideas, I would be really into them but didn’t always think I was good enough to execute them,” the Malmo-born musician reflects honestly. 

However, throughout the past four years of creating the songs that would shape his new record, that changed. Working on them in his bedrooms in Sweden and Berlin - “there’s no reason to change a winning formula,” he laughs of having never had a studio of his own - his confidence as a songwriter grew. 

Having set out to write more tracks that are structured as songs “rather than just stuff that has a four-to-four rhythm”, dialling up this aspect of his artistry guided the creative process behind the LP. Initially, he reached out to Norwegian vocalists ARY and Moyka, and was drawn to the Scandinavian-noir touches of their voices, whose sense of mystery reminded him of Little Dragon and Björk. But, by fusing this with his career-long love of house, two-step, modern pop and r’n’b, the emotive final version evolved into something tonally different.

While crafting his third album was a slower process than usual - he started work on it during the week that his 2021 sophomore Mirrors was released - DJ Seinfeld relished having the time to spend on it. “Getting something out as soon as possible is not something that I've ever wanted to stress about,” he admits. 

That’s not to say he has been quiet since – far from it, in fact. Released on Ninja Tune, his second album honed a melancholic yet optimistic sound which took elements of the lo-fi sound of his early work (his 2016-released debut EP Season 1 remains a classic of the SoundCloud-born genre he pioneered). After touring his live show throughout 2023, he gained a monthly residency at CircoLoco in Ibiza, but the biggest crossover success of that year was "Now U Do," his infectious dance-floor-dominating Confidence Man collaboration.

Further career-boosting moments – including playing Coachella, Primavera and Glastonbury – alongside versatile releases (2024’s "Hopecore" and "If U Like Me," as well as 2025 collaborations "Are You In?" with sogumm, and "the one" with ATRIP) allowed DJ Seinfeld to continue satisfying the club world while working on If This Is It in the background. 

When it comes to making albums, then, it’s perhaps unsurprising that he has a different mindset. “It’s more for the listening experience outside of the club”, he says. Though a tricky balance, walking this tightrope felt rewarding. “I don't always write albums, so it’s a big deal for me to, hopefully, get the timing right,” he enthuses. 

Incidentally, not being pressured to rush the process enabled him to push his creativity and, ultimately, write more songs that he thought would fit the record. “I just sit and twiddle around with the songs, and then eventually the final form crystallises,” he reflects of going through waves of productivity. As he was in a state of flux with the ideas and where he wanted to take the album, he was happy to let it naturally run its course. 

It wasn’t all plain sailing, however, bouts of self-doubt crept in. “I think it’s the typical producer curse,” he considers. “You sit with a track for a long time before it ever sees the light of day so, by then, and usually quite soon after having been made, it loses a bit of its appeal,” he adds, suggesting that “the thing you liked about it at first can sometimes be harder to find”.

In retrospect, he feels that facing challenges along the way was good for him as an artist. “I think I benefit from going through these things when I need to make music, even though there’s sometimes a mental and emotional cost attached to it.”

Eventually – though he can’t put his finger on exactly when or why – everything began to coalesce and, rather than reaching a point where he felt as though he had a finished album, it was more the case that he was sitting on enough music that fit the same theme and shared a similar sound. “It feels more professional, in some ways,” he considers of the melodies, chords and harmonies that form the final version, adding that he’s proud of its pop sensibilities. 

With many of the song titles bearing personal meanings – family circumstances and chance encounters, including one with a man with terminal cancer on a flight, reframed DJ Seinfeld’s view on the precariousness of being human – he recognises that “what I put into the record isn’t necessarily what people will pick up”. 

Nonetheless, if there’s one message that he hopes the album will convey it’s about “the process of recognising that everything is going to be okay. Nothing is static and whatever makes you anxious today might be tomorrow’s blessing,” he adds, somewhat philosophically.

Sonically, this glimmer of optimism shines through If This Is It, despite the record being infused with subtle melancholy. “I don't think the album is overtly sad,” DJ Seinfeld ponders. “I think it just sits quite nicely in the nostalgic lane where it is pointed enough, but people can hopefully take it in and make it their own.” 

And they have been – the reaction to the singles released so far has been “really lovely”, he says, adding that he’s been approaching feedback on social media differently. “I try to appreciate the more sincere comments people reach out to me with, as opposed to trying to judge reactions based on algorithms.”

Later this year, he’ll bring the album to life on stage – in “full-throttle” fashion. He’s understandably “nervous, excited and intrigued” to see how people translate the record’s open-ended feelings in a live setting. “I’m really happy and proud of these songs,” DJ Seinfeld says humbly. “When I’m done with a song or record, it's no longer mine – it belongs to the world.” 

Having long finished work on ‘If This Is It’, he’s busy planning what comes next. “There’s a wide array,” he teases, adding that he’s trying to find new people to work with while also “finishing a bunch of dance bits”. One thing is clear, then – DJ Seinfeld is taking over this summer. 

DJ Seinfeld's third album If This Is It is out June 5 via Ninja Tune.